Showbuzz
Web posted on:
Tuesday, August 25, 1998 12:21:21 PM
Today's buzz stories:
| |
"Titanic"
|
HOLLYWOOD (CNN) -- "Titanic" is about to sail in on one of the biggest rollouts in home video history. Paramount is in the process of shipping 20 million copies of the megahit for its September 1 sell date.
And retailers such as Blockbuster Video, Best Buy, Reel.com and cable's QVC are planning some flashy promotions for next week's release of the "Titanic" video.
Best Buy has announced plans to open its stores at 12:01 a.m. on September 1, for consumers who can't wait until morning to purchase the tape. Not to be outdone, Blockbuster says some of its stores will participate in a 12:01 a.m. re-opening, which will feature a two-hour "Bon Voyage" party, complete with live radio promotions and a sweepstakes touting a free cruise or a theme park vacation.
In case you've forgotten, the James Cameron film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in a romantic tale set against the 1912 sinking of the luxury liner Titanic. It spent months at the top of the North American box office, and set new records for box office earnings.
| |
Hanson
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Young girls continue to swoon and scream over Zach, Taylor and Isaac Hanson, who mmm-bopped their way to the Big Apple on Monday, promoting their current summer concert tour by performing an a cappella version of one of their hit songs at New York's Planet Hollywood. The teen-age heartthrobs also announced plans for a new live album are in the works.
Meanwhile, Isaac Hanson, the eldest of the group, played down rumors that he's leaving the band to attend college. "That would be pretty silly for me to leave the band. I mean, why? Why?" he told reporters.
"I'm definitely considering college and definitely, you know, looking at my options," he continued, "but I wouldn't leave the band to do it. We'd just find a way to ... do college and be the band at the same time."
| |
Stern
|
HOLLYWOOD (CNN) -- He may not have knocked off NBC's "Saturday Night Live" as promised, but Saturday's premiere of "The Howard Stern Radio Show" surely lit a fire under the CBS-owned stations that carried the bawdy show. "SNL" beat Stern in the numbers game, but Stern's performance, a 4.9 overnight rating, was impressive, indicating that "Howard Stern" was appointment TV that brought millions of viewers who wouldn't have otherwise watched last Saturday night. TV critics, however, were generally not impressed, with many calling the program nothing more than a recut version of Howard Stern's radio show, which does not translate easily to the small screen.
| |
Carey
|
CLEVELAND (CNN) -- Drew Carey returned to his native Cleveland to form a band for his ABC sitcom "The Drew Carey Show." Fellow Cleveland native and former Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh will be joined by Carey on the accordion as the musical group on this season's show.
The band will also include two other Ohioans, Jim Fox and Dale Peters, who played with Walsh in the James Gang. An ABC spokeswoman said Walsh and company were in Los Angeles this week to tape an episode of the show, which is set in -- where else -- Cleveland.
| |
O'Donnell
|
BEVERLY HILLS, California (CNN) -- Rosie O'Donnell isn't showing any signs of slowing down her charitable work. The daytime talk show diva flew to California last week to accept an award from Vistas for Blind Children and the Institute for Families of Blind Children. According to USA Today, O'Donnell not only wrote the groups a $50,000 check, but she gave back her award so that it could be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Funnyman Leslie Nielsen was the lucky winner, reportedly paying $30,000 for the statuette.
Reuters contributed to this report.
| 
